Spheroid
/ˈsfɪərɔɪd/noun
A body or shape that is almost spherical, especially an ellipsoid of revolution.
Did you know?The word comes through Greek and later scientific Latin from the same ancient root behind “sphere,” so its name literally marks it as an imitation of a divine-seeming circle, not the perfect thing itself.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
sphaira
“a ball or globe”
Late Greek
Greek
-eides
“having the form of; resembling”
Late Latin
Latin
sphaeroides
“sphere-like”
16th Century
English
spheroid
“a body resembling a sphere”
Modern English
English
spheroid
“an object or shape that is nearly spherical”